Emergency Preparedness

It’s not sexy. It’s not “top of mind.” It was that fleeting thought a few days ago, as a tropical wave became a tropical depression and landed, just south of here, as a hurricane, threatening with flooding rains and damaging winds.

Almost as dangerous as the politicians in Austin.

I was scheduled for the rock shop and I showed up. Didn’t get any rain.

Kept thinking — and meaning to quote — the opening lines from Richard III:

(Enter Richard Duke of Gloucester solus.)

“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that low’r’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

When those clouds are like that, down on the deck, scudding, grey, forbidding, laden with gulf moisture, threatening, and ominous? Those lines echo back to me.

Hurricane Season has ravaged the various parts of the gulf coast, and poor Houston, almost have to pity them. Almost.

Dozens of years back, in the early days of online writing, I watched as a nascent blogger/writer of some sort chronicled what was happening when tropical storm (something) parked over Harris County (Houston, TX), and that dropped 30+ inches of rain in a 24-hour period. I was living in Austin, and read the updates with abject terror in my mind. Almost three feet of rain, measured by the yard, not the inch? She was — from recollections — on the second floor of an apartment building where the first floor flooded.

Personally, I’ve been spared, owing to location, from recent ravages of weather, but only just. Last winter? 3 days with no power and no water? I relearned the old habit of a hurricane box.

Batteries, chargers for devices, hopefully enough battery power to last at least 48-hours, but as we all learned last winter? And so far, the governor has made no attempt to rectify the power grid here, and we now know that fragile power structure can go away for a period of time, with almost no warning. Keep that in mind. Regressive health policies, and not one bit of effort to fix what’s broken.

Disheartening. The Republicans should be ashamed.

Emergency Preparedness

Given the disheveled and disappointing absolute lack of action from the current state legislature? What items need to be in the current hurricane box?

Batteries. My little electrical device all matter, now more so. I have a tablet battery, a small battery pack that can fully charge an iPad twice over, plus a phone battery, just portable USB battery packs. Then there’s a watch charger, but that’s a little iffy; however it does work. I know it works because it worked in the last freeze-out when the Texas Power Grid failed, and the Republican-run legislature has made no effort to fix.

The rest? I keep a rotating case of bottled water on hand. Not an issue, just handy. That’s from long years of experience, and we’ve suffered with dumb governors for the last few years. Just an observation.

There’s now rotating collection of individual “trail mix” bags. Costco had one brand for a while that was delicious, nutritious, and thoughtfully packaged, alas, the big store doesn’t seem to carry that at the moment. No worries, any kind of “trail mix,” granola bar food is acceptable.

I used to keep Slim-Jims on hand, but those get eaten while fishing despite the “survive a nuclear holocaust” shelf-life. Same with beef jerky.

The state of Texas, office of preparedness or something like that? They posted a graphic with what to have on hand. I mimic that, but then I am prepared because this isn’t my rodeo.

Emergency Preparedness

1. Tablet Battery Pack
   Anker PowerCore 10000 Portable Charger, One of The Smallest and Lightest 10000mAh Power Bank, Ultra-Compact Battery Pack, High-Speed Charging Technology Phone Charger for iPhone, Samsung and More.
2. Wall Charger
   USB Charger, Anker 2-Pack Dual Port 12W Wall Charger with Foldable Plug, PowerPort mini for iPhone XS/ X / 8 / 8 Plus / 7 / 6S / 6S Plus, iPad, Galaxy Note 5 / Note 4, HTC, Moto, and More (2 Pack)
3. Cables
   USB C Cable, Anker [2-Pack, 6 ft] Type C Charger Premium Nylon USB Cable , USB A to Type C Charging Cable Fast Charge for Samsung Galaxy S10 S10+ / Note 8, LG V20 and Other USB C Charger (Black)
4. Glasses
5. Medicine
6. Emergency Medicine
7. Generic Chapstick
   Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Origin Moisturizing Lip Balm, Multipack, Original Beeswax, Strawberry, Coconut & Pear and Vanilla Bean with Beeswax & Fruit Extracts, 4 Tubes
8. Pens, notebooks &c.
   Sharpie Permanent Markers, Ultra Fine Point, Black, 12 Count
9. Multitool (can opener)
   Gerber 7-in-1 Shard Keychain Solid State Tool
10. Flashlight
    Coast G20 Inspection Beam LED Penlight with Adjustable Pocket Clip and Consistent Edge-To-Edge Brightness, Black, 54 lumens
11. And more. Much more.

Emergency Preparedness

I keep a bag packed. Started some years ago, and I’ve lost track of iterations, but I know that I need to keep two bags packed, at all times. One is a substantial “go bag” with a change of clothes, and assorted material, toiletries, and so forth, as need be, along with a change of clothes, in the increasingly likely event of having to answer family emergency calls. Less about weather and more about being ready to jump on plane or in car to rush off and wait in waiting rooms. Electronics, and support thereof, chargers, batteries, cables.

But the second bag is what this is about, and it also has to have enough “hurricane box” essentials to survive, unsupported, for up to a week — or more — at a time. Looks lot like a travel bag, which, in essence, it is.

Came up because of the hurricane that didn’t strike here. Flooded some places, and Brother Gary in Louisiana, he’s been without power for a week.

Emergency Preparedness

The two items that became abundantly clear, early on? Two definitive courses of action. Have that little “go bag” ready, and vote.